A typical piston engine airplane includes one or more piston engines which propel the airplane. Each engine draws a mixture of fuel and air through a carburetor, and receives timed sparks from a distributor. As a result, combustion in that engine drives a propeller and perhaps additional devices (e.g., an electric generator, an oil pump, a fuel pump, etc.).
Prior to takeoff, the pilot of the piston engine airplane typically reviews a checklist of pre-flight checks that the pilot must make before being able to safely take off. In general, each check involves the pilot performing an extensive detailed inspection of an operable component of the airplane.
One conventional pre-flight checklist requires the pilot to manually adjust certain piston engine controls, and verify that the piston engines of the airplane respond to these manual adjustments. For example, one checklist item may require the pilot to manually change the fuel/air mixture and listen for a corresponding change in the RPMs of the piston engines. Another checklist item may require the pilot to manually change the oil pressure to an adjustable propeller, and sense whether the angular pitch of the adjustable propeller has changed (e.g., airplane may pull more or less depending on the pitch of the adjustable propeller).